Why Baccarat shoe covered?

[ArcticInferno]

I noticed that Baccarat shoes are always covered.
I’m not sure if it was mini Baccarat or regular Baccarat.
Also, many Baccarat tables have the discard tray in the table.
The dealer has to insert the cards through a slit.
Some Baccarat tables have the discard tray on top of the table, but the discard tray has a sleeve. Sometimes these sleeves are dark and sometimes they’re transparent.
Is it because people have pens and papers and can jot down notes and stuff?
Card counting at Baccarat? Hmmm,...
What do they accomplish with a transparent sleeve over the discard tray?
By the way, I don’t know how Baccarat is played. I was too lazy to read about Baccarat on Wikipedia.

 

[pit15]

I highly doubt it has to do with game protection or preventing advantage play...

They let you (and actually ENCOURAGE it) write down every card that comes out.

You don't need to look at the discards or the shoe to estimate how much of the shoe is left... you can keep track of EXACTLY how many cards are left.

It probably has something to do with some stuperstition.

Oh, and btw, card counting at baccarat.. you might be able to make a buck or two a shoe on average. You'll probably be sitting at that table for days between making any bets too..

 

[Sucker]

The pen & paper thing in baccarat and in roulette is pure superstition. If there was anything at ALL to it, then I guarantee that the casinos would NOT let you do it.

The reason that the shoes have covers on them and the discard trays have sleeves is for game protection. About ten years ago, at a major strip casino, a team of cheaters was caught marking the eights & nines. The person sitting in the seat next to the discard tray had a very clever way of getting daub on the top card in the tray whenever he thought it necessary (use your imagination). If my recollection is accurate; they made more than seven figures before finally getting caught.

 

[sabre]

It's interesting to see casinos so hot over protecting the backs of the cards in a baccarat game, when marking the aces in a blackjack shoe must be far more valuable.

Then again, in a marked baccarat hand everyone at the table can bet the right way, whereas in BJ only the rightmost player can take advantage.

 

[pit15]

The pen & paper thing in baccarat and in roulette is pure superstition. If there was anything at ALL to it, then I guarantee that the casinos would NOT let you do it.

The reason that the shoes have covers on them and the discard trays have sleeves is for game protection. About ten years ago, at a major strip casino, a team of cheaters was caught marking the eights & nines. The person sitting in the seat next to the discard tray had a very clever way of getting daub on the top card in the tray whenever he thought it necessary (use your imagination). If my recollection is accurate; they made more than seven figures before finally getting caught.

so what's stopping someone from doing this same cheat at blackjack?
Granted only first base can take advantage of this cheat instead of the whole table, but it's still serious $.

And wouldn't they get suspicious at someone touching the cards in the discard tray in a game where you can't touch the cards? (or pretending to sneeze at the discards or whatever)

 

[itrack]

The transparent discard covers are most likely there to prevent the stack of cards from falling over. After the players bend them like crazy I'm guessing they don't stack very well.

 

[Sucker]

so what's stopping someone from doing this same cheat at blackjack?
Granted only first base can take advantage of this cheat instead of the whole table, but it's still serious $.

Really; nothing, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if there's someone out there foolhardy enough that they ARE trying it. But in BJ the huge spread that would be necessary to pull this off would be a tipoff that SOMETHING was going on.

In baccarat, if you sat there long enough to get 1/2 of the 8s and 9s marked, then one out of thirteen hands you would be able to bet "player" with an average advantage of about 20%. Twelve out of thirteen times you could bet "bank", and because of the greatly reduced chance of player's first card being an 8 or 9, you'd STILL be playing at about a 3-4% edge. A cheater could FLAT BET this game & beat the pants off of it.

And wouldn't they get suspicious at someone touching the cards in the discard tray in a game where you can't touch the cards? (or pretending to sneeze at the discards or whatever)

They weren't actually TOUCHING the cards or sneezing, but it was the "whatever". The repetition of the very clever move that they WERE using WAS what finally did them in.

 

[pit15]

that is true, you'd have to spread like crazy in blackjack to make money off it.

plus it's not unusual to not bet every hand in baccarat

 

[pit15]

Hey sucker, do you actually know the move those guys used?

If so, would you mind PMing me what it was? Just out of curiosity of course. If I really wanted to spend some time in a nice cell there's plenty of games to bend cards at.